Wakefield, East Riding and Scarborough councils all responded to Freedom of Information requests by saying that police were responsible for enforcement, while Harrogate said police held the "primary responsibility".

Yet the region's police forces say their officers cannot issue fines in relation to this piece of Department for Health legislation.

It is this high support for the legislation that health charity ASH says is behind the very low number of fines issued.

Chief executive Deborah Arnott said: “Compliance with the legislation on smoking in cars with children is dependent on the level of public support not enforcement action. And people are complying with this popular law which protects children from the harm caused by secondhand smoke."

She argued that there is now growing support for a ban on smoking in all cars, quoting a survey which found 62 per cent of adults in England backed the idea in 2016 compared to 45 per cent in 2009.

“Prohibiting smoking completely would make the law simpler to enforce as well as protecting all car occupants from the harmful toxins in tobacco smoke,” she added.

But Mr Clark said: "The only impact the law has had is to stigmatise ordinary, decent people who don't need the government telling them how to behave in their own private space.

“Let this be a lesson to politicians and campaigners who want to extend the smoking ban to other areas. Allow smokers to use their common sense when lighting up and most will behave responsibly and with consideration for others.

"The last thing we need are more rules and regulations governing people's behaviour."